BHOPAL: Three Shwetambara Jain monks resting in a Hanuman Temple of a village on the Madhya Pradesh-Rajasthan border in western MP’s Neemuch district were allegedly attacked by anti-social elements late Sunday night.
The incident triggered protests by local residents in Singoli town of Neemuch district, close to the state’s border with Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh district. Prior to the protests the police had arrested six youngsters, whom it claimed were involved in the attack.
According to the FIR filed on the complaint of Singoli town resident Bhawarlal Mehta, the incident occurred in Kachchala village in the Singoli area of Neemuch district at around 11 p.m. on Sunday, while the monks were resting inside the temple before taking their onward journey to Rajasthan the next morning.
The youngsters approached them and asked for money and valuables. When the monks said that they were Jain munis on religious trek and had no money or valuables, the men mercilessly attacked them with lathis and rods. Despite being injured, the monks managed to escape to the main road and sought help from the local residents.
The matter was subsequently reported to the local police by the villagers. A 2.20-minute video showing the police at the spot after the incident has visuals which showed multiple injuries on the back, head, neck, and faces of the victims.
Acting on specific inputs, a police team traced the accused a few hours later.
“All six accused, which include a 16-year-old teenager, have been arrested. All of them hail from the adjoining Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan. They’ve been booked under major sections of the BNS and will be produced before the court later in the day. We’re also working on figuring out whether they have been involved in criminal incidents in the past or not,” Neemuch district police superintendent Ankit Jaiswal told this newspaper on Monday.
While one of the arrested accused is 16 years old, the other five (all in their early 20s) have been identified as Ganpat Naik, Gopal Bhoi, Kanhaiyalal Bhoi, Raju Bhoi, and Babu Sharma, all residents of the Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan.
The arrested men have been booked under BNS sections 115(2), 119(1), 3(5), 191(2). The injured have been shifted to a dharamshala. According to informed sources, the residents of Kachchala village had recently complained to the local police about men from the adjoining Chittorgarh district moving around in the village in a suspicious manner, but the police did not initiate action.
Angered over the Sunday late-night incident, local residents shut down Singoli town on Monday morning, but following the police action and meeting with the district collector and SP, the shutdown was withdrawn. The Jain community bodies have handed over memoranda addressed to the state’s CM Mohan Yadav to the administration in Mandsaur and Neemuch districts of western MP.
Sparks outrage
Angered over the incident, local residents shut down Singoli town. But it was later withdrawn. Jain community bodies have handed over memorandums addressed to the state’s CM to the administration in Mandsaur and Neemuch districts